Selling a home can look so easy you think maybe you should do it yourself, save yourself the commission. And some people do, but the reality is most don’t. The stats on successful owner sales are quite low: less than 10% of all real estate transactions are for sale by owner – and these types of transactions generally take a very long time, have complicated paper trails to follow (or none at all), and often result in sales lower than market value. While you could potentially save yourself commission by attempting to sell your own property, it’s not likely that you’re going to save yourself the headache, nor necessarily get the best price for what might be one of your largest assets.

When you work with a professional Realtor® your probability of success is much higher.

Here’s Why:

For buyers, who generally don’t pay commission, they most often want representation. It doesn’t cost them anything. FSBO listings often trigger a nervousness that the property price may be wishful thinking on the part of the seller and no reflection of market demand. Also a buyer might suspect the property isn’t listed with any accountability to local real estate regulators, they may question whether the seller is being forthcoming –i.e. will there be a property disclosure? Will the buyers viewing of the property be with the Sellers at home, this is uncomfortable for buyers and can make them feel ‘sheepish’, afterall you’ll be at home in your ‘castle’ when they want to take their time look at the storage, test the water, fire up the heating system and listen for creaky floors & doors.

Put yourself in the buyers seat – what would you think?

Consider the above and add that an experienced Realtor has years of past client relationships, many many property transactions (which is a study in human behavior in itself) – lots of experience diffusing exaggerated repair costs for example, anticipating and therefore preventing obstacles to keep sales together (how to get buyers financed being one of the most crucial) and get the sale completed in a timely manner, with clauses that clearly state specifics – trial and error as well honest to goodness sales training makes for skilled negotiation. Add to this the huge investment in marketing, not only in property’s but also personally, supporting the community, retaining existing clients and attracting new… For all these reasons Realtors® have most of the ‘would be’ buyers you want to attract. The hardworking Realtor is ‘at it‘ 24/7, pretty much 365 days of the year, smart phone on the bedside table, answering when its convenient for everyone else – Will you, can you, have the same availability? Unless you’re in a ‘Seller’s Market’ buyers won’t wait, they’ll view all the other available properties on their list and fall in love with one of them, never returning to fit in when works for you. From the hardworking Realtor’s® point of view – you’re listing may even be a mere posting on MLS – likely a $1300 fee to the brokerage host and offering $1 to the Buyer’s Realtor®. How motivated would a Buyer’s Realtor® be to take their hard earned buyer to your listing.

When a commission fee is paid on the sale of your house you secure local & industry expertise, professional connectedness in the industry, marketing systems already in place and if you can hear the advice, the best & fastest property sale.

Highly regulated, trained, tested, insured & licenced. We Realtors® are required to work under the umbrella of a licensed brokerage in NS with accountability measures in place to evaluate our performance & standards ( yes audited ), and to mitigate liability.

Becoming expert problem solvers, we can find an expert in everything from wells and septic systems, heat pumps and air exchangers, to roofs, rodents, zoning by-laws, school catchment areas and on & on. We send these people so much business that they show up for us. We have at our fingertips valuable sources to help prepare your home to look its best for photos and showings, access to the latest marketing systems and strategies, and up to date information on red flag issues to address prior to listing your home. We use professional photographers, videographers, drones, web developers. And we see daily what’s going on in the market – we’ve been in the house on your street with the sale price way below or way above all the others.

Systems, Systems, Systems: to market, advertise, network, negotiate, and cover all the bases to comply with legal requirements of purchase and sale of property. Our office employs full time administrators to keep everything running smoothly, the paperwork in order, the communication communicated, sign service, 24 Hour online agents, High traffic locations, next day MLS posting, after hours message management…

A career in Real Estate is not for the feint of heart, its hard work, long days juggling a great deal of responsibility, constantly learning, constantly ‘on’ with constant public interaction during what can be an emotional life changing transition. Staying calm under pressure, problem solving, your rock when things start to roll.